


follow your heart (under the blazing sun)

by dulceyanjuns (orphan_account)



Series: "heart" [3]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Beaches, Confessions, Drinking, Fluff, M/M, Summer Vacation, Tags will be updated as we go along, dance major!hyunjin, everything is fictional please take note, i hope this isn't too late for summer, lifeguard!seungmin, mentions of lin yanjun (idol producer), side bang chan/kim woojin, side lee jeno/na jaemin, side lee minho/han jisung
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15912807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dulceyanjuns
Summary: when hwang hyunjin, a heartbroken dance major from seoul goes to jeju island for summer vacation with two highschool students, he did not expect to meet the love his life there.





	follow your heart (under the blazing sun)

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i hope this isn't too late for summer? google says summer ends on 9/23 so i'm going to follow google and try my best to finish this summer fic quickly. it has been pretty long since i wrote a chaptered stray kids fic (last one: you never left my heart, student council!au) and i really wanted to write this fic. do look forward to each chapter and i hope everyone will enjoy reading <3

hyunjin keeps asking himself how did he, one who wished not to travel out of seoul end up in jeju island, where the beaches were filled with topless guys and girls wearing bikinis. okay, maybe not everyone does it, but it is pretty typical. yes, it is summer vacation right now and hyunjin would rather stay in the dance studios, and perfect that tiring and hard choreography. instead, he is whisked away to jeju island by his cousin, lee jeno.

as the older of the trio dumps his bag on the couch, hyunjin sighs again. jeno, his cousin from his mother's side, and just two years younger, had somehow convinced him to bring him and his boyfriend to jeju island. they needed an "adult" and hyunjin just came into sight and took up the responsibility. somehow. but hyunjin knows that jeno's main motive was to celebrate his first anniversary with jaemin. 

hyunjin is pretty hard to talk to when it comes to vacations, for someone who did not wish to step one foot outside of his apartment or even his bedroom. but jeno knew his ways to convince hyunjin. the college student had recently broken up with his chinese ex-boyfriend yanjun, who had been cheating on him with some goddamn girl he bumped into in the hallway. _"it would be a good getaway from the city and also your ex-boyfriend,"_ said the highschool student through the phone while hyunjin was eating ice cream while crying over yanjun. considering that factor for a while, hyunjin agreed to jeno within several minutes and it landed him here. 

"hyunjin hyung, jaemin and i will be going out to the beach!" jeno shouted as he trudged down the stairs with jaemin on his side, arms linked together.

"let me join you. it's pretty boring here." 

"are you sure you want to be a thirdwheel, hyung?"

"i'm not going to be a thirdwheel, jeno. i'll have a walk on the beach myself. you two can play all you want, but please don't get yourselves in danger. i'm sure aunt lee didn't get you travel insurance, neither did your mother, jaemin."

jaemin giggles quietly at the comment and he waves goodbye to hyunjin before disappearing from the latter's sight. jaemin was pretty sweet and cute too, and to be honest, hyunjin was astonished when jeno brought jaemin to the biweekly family dinner that their grandparents insisted on having at this high class restaurant. without a doubt, everyone took an immediate liking to jaemin. not only was the black-haired boy well-mannered, he knew how to bond so well with everyone that by the end of the dinner, he had jeno's and hyunjin's grandmother stating that jaemin is a marvellous person. grandmother probably wanted jeno to marry jaemin when the couple grows into adults. pretty evident.

the sun hits hyunjin's face hard when he steps out of the chalet and he instantly regrets his words and plans on taking a walk on the beach. his eyes can barely open and it feels like he will get a sunburn if he stays out in the sun any longer. but again, the chalet is not a better choice either. what is hyunjin going to do there? make some sandwiches? watch reality shows? cry over his ex-boyfriend? definitely not the last. this trip to jeju island was to help him relax and forget about the negativity in his life. every single contact excluding his family was muted on his phone, just so he could take a break without his friends bothering him. not saying that hyunjin's friends were the worst people ever, but there were people better than them. 

running back in to grab his shades, the dancer locks the door quickly and heads out for the beach. it will either be the worst decision ever or a blessing in disguise.

.

"i wish i could have a mojito right now, but we're on duty and the last thing i wish for is me being drunk and walking towards puppies when i should be saving someone who is drowning and needs help."

"are you deeming me an useless lifeguard or are you describing your drunken state?"

"both." 

minho whines out loud when seungmin hits him in the bicep, hand going up to rub it in an attempt to soothe the sting. seungmin only rolled his eyes in response, knowing very well that the light slap he delivered did not hurt one bit. for someone who is genuinely active like minho, it would not hurt. the only thing that would probably hurt minho is a heartbreak. everyone and anyone can clearly see from first glance that the lifeguard is in love with han jisung. 

"is our island really like what people see? topless guys roaming around on the beach with and without beach bodies. it's like, a dream come true? don't you think so, min?" 

"firstly, jeju isn't our island, minho. we don't own it and furthermore, the group of us are here just to take a break from the dumb college and to earn some quick cash. we get to enjoy this alluring view of the sea, and also get to do our jobs. you know how much we all want to be lifeguards, minho." 

"and another benefit is that i get to see my angel by the cocktail bar, probably poisoning the customers he doesn't like at first glance. with heejin helping him with the judgement part, of course." 

"you said it yourself. if jisung hits you for that, it's totally not my fault." 

the area they worked for only had one cocktail bar, and it meant that the queue could go on for hours if it was a busy day or if a party opened to the public was held at the beach. it was ran by jisung, minho's boyfriend and jisung's best friend, jeon heejin. after all, it gave the pair the money and all the alcohol they needed. heejin and jisung stayed on the island all year around and grew up by the sea, so worrying about the cocktail bar was non-existent in their lives. they loved the scenery in jeju island, their alcohol and all the people staying in their area.

the two reasons that always lead minho to going to jeju island during summer vacation was to meet jisung and heejin, and also to earn cash to support himself back in seoul. and one of their other friends chan had a boyfriend here too, so it was perfect. seungmin does not understand how jisung and minho can make their relationship work with just a month of physical contact per year. well, maybe jisung does come over to seoul for a week and leaves heejin busy with the cocktail bar (heejin makes him run it for a week himself when he comes back) but seungmin still thinks it is too little for a relationship to survive. somehow, the couple makes it work. 

seungmin sighs as he watches minho lean forward to watch the waters, to spot if there is anyone who requires help. not in the way where they have to go down to teach someone how to swim step by step, but the help where they are probably drowning because of the current or some other reason they discover about. for god's sake, the two are lifeguards, not people's personal swimming coaches but some tourists always think that they are. annoying. 

"look, there actually are people wearing shirts on this beach. those dumbasses running the websites should probably change the description." 

"shut up, minho."

nevertheless, seungmin still stands up and leans over to observe the people. he spots two teenagers splashing each other with water, a group of kids building sandcastles with their parents supervising them while suntanning (pretty typical, seungmin thinks) and some people enjoying a game of beach volleyball. yet his eyes drifted to  _him_.

he was wearing a white button-down, the sleeves rolled up to above his elbows, and the first two buttons opened. khaki shorts hugged his thighs and on his feet were beach sandals, and a pair of shades were propped up on his head, pushing his hair back. seungmin was completely mesmerised by his visuals, and he watched every movement of the guy. not that the lifeguard was a stalker, but he seemed so.. interesting. seungmin watched as he let the water hit his feet, retreat then come back again as if they were too scared to fight such an ethereal human being.

"kim seungmin, are you staring at that guy? the one with the button-down?"

"what? no! i was looking out for the swimmers. you know the current these days, minho. anyways, what should we do tonight? we have a few days to ourselves. do you want to go swimming or surfing? has been pretty long since we did these stuff at night." 

"let's go for swimming. save the surfing for another day. maybe when heejin is free from the cocktail bar, she can surf with us. you know how fun it is to surf with her."

"oh, i definitely do."

heejin was a professional surfer and someone fun to hang out with, no doubt. it was fun to watch her do all those crazy tricks at night when the beach was much more quieter, and go on an adventure with her. but seungmin's motive of changing the topic was to not let minho see that he was looking at that guy. after all, he does not want minho to be interfering with his love life, screaming at every single stuff he does. 

before going back to sit down, seungmin makes eye contact with the pretty guy on the beach and the corner of his lips quirk up a little. the lifeguard is the first one to turn away, breaking the eye contact. he would probably find the pretty boy again anyways.

.

the water is cooling and hyunjin lets it hit his feet every few seconds. he could hear jeno and jaemin laughing and playing in the background without even looking back. you cannot exactly call the beach crowded, but there were a good amount of people on it. doing all sorts of stuff. not the dirty things though, just the things you would imagine. family bonding, sports, suntanning. hyunjin preferred to have a walk by himself along the waters, enjoying the peace he was getting. no one was rushing him to do anything, and there was not any music blasting from the speakers. as much as he loved dancing, having music at this beach would make him want to return to the chalet and watch reality shows. 

his mind and soul feels free, being able to relax from all the  _torture_ he had to go through for the past few weeks. looking up, he sees two lifeguards discussing about something while watching out for people who may be in trouble. hyunjin's eyes focus on the one on the right with the whistle hanging down his neck, reaching his chest. the lifeguard was really well-built, but again, lifeguards had to be well-built right? his hair was a little ruffled and several strands were sticking out in the most random directions, but that made his overall appearance even cuter. 

 _"what are you doing, hwang hyunjin? are you checking out a lifeguard right now? what if he's just another yanjun, here for the summer and he'll be making out with someone by the end of it?"_ hyunjin says to himself inwardly, taking a deep breath in. hyunjin did not want a fling, neither did he want someone who would cheat on him and break his heart all over again. yes, the lifeguard was strikingly handsome and charming, but hyunjin was not falling in love that easily. no one can possibly open up his heart again in such a short time. 

looking at the lifeguards for a few more moments, he finds himself making eye contact with the one he had been looking at for the past few minutes and he freezes there just for a while. watching the lifeguard's mouth twitch a little, hyunjin can feel the red on his cheeks rising but fortunately, the lifeguard breaks the eye contact between them and returns into the lifeguard tower.

 _"let's just pretend we didn't see him, hyunjin."_ hyunjin thinks to himself and there he goes, continuing his walk down the beach. the lifeguard will be someone he will probably never see again.

.

minho turns on the truck's headlights on and seungmin can hear jisung laughing back in the cocktail bar. it was currently 1.30AM, where the beach was quieter than ever. there were a few tourists out for drinks and some lifeguards that seungmin had talked to several times just hanging around the beach. jisung was busy laughing with heejin, who was just sitting at the side, not helping with making all the drinks. after all, heejin already had her fair share of work and needed a quick rest. 

seungmin follows minho into the water, letting himself submerge in the cold water. the two could save themselves as lifeguards and even if they could not, there were chan and felix, their college friends who had came over with them to earn some money. chan waved to them from the lifeguard tower as they entered the water, the light illuminating his face. seungmin gives chan a small sign before going off for a swim, following minho and staying behind him. the two swam for quite a good time, making sure that the lifeguards could spot them and the lights from the truck could reach them. 

"i really want a mojito right now, seungmin."

"then go get one. i want to have a drink too anyways. today is pretty cold, huh?"

"yeah. let's head back for drinks. we've been swimming for quite some time anyways." 

the pair swam back to the shore and minho wanders off to the cocktail bar the moment he steps onto the sand, not even drying himself before entering. seungmin knows that jisung will definitely make him mop the water and chide him for dirtying the bar, but they always resolve such problems by making out. seungmin takes his towel from the truck to dry himself off, heading in to change out of those wet shorts. despite his remark on the chilly weather, he still does not put on a shirt. weird.

seungmin wants to get a drink too, preferably a mai tai but before he can take a step, he hears someone crying in the distance. whipping his head, seungmin finds that pretty guy from before, on the phone and crying. he watches the guy's hands come up to wipe his tears. seungmin cannot make out what he is saying, but his voice is trembling and that just makes seungmin feel down. even though seungmin has no connection or relation to the pretty boy, it still hurts him to see people upset. 

maybe he should doing something. 

without any hesitation, seungmin goes over to pretty boy who had just ended the call and was wiping his tears. would a pat on the shoulder be alright? what if seungmin scared him away? maybe just a word? taking a deep breath, seungmin just lets whatever comes out of his mouth come out.

"hey, are you alright? i don't mean to poke into your personal business or whatsoever, but you seem pretty.. despaired." 

"o-oh, i'm fine. thank you for asking. j-just some stupid relationship matters, you know? having your ex-boyfriend disturb you and ask for forgiveness when you just want to relax isn't a good thing." 

seungmin smiles a little, probably at the mention of "ex-boyfriend". does it mean that he has a chance? this sure is a way to confirm someone's relationship status. telling himself to focus on his motive of comforting the pretty boy, seungmin offers to buy the boy a drink, to "drink his troubles away" (seungmin himself found it pretty lame, but it came out of his mouth, so there is no turning back). to his surprise, the other boy nods and the lifeguard leads both of them into the cocktail bar where heejin and minho are busy chatting their souls out while jisung is serving a customer. no, seungmin does not plan to get into this boy's pants or anything. he really does feel bad for him.

"what's up, seungmin? is this your new boy?"

"shut up, jisung, give me a mai tai. and no, he isn't a new boy. anyways, what would you like to drink?"

seungmin turns to hyunjin who was already red, probably from jisung's words. hyunjin just asks for a sazerac, in which seungmin is astonished at. is he really going to drink something so heavy at this point of time? maybe it is just because of the ex-boyfriend think and that he wants to drink his trouble away, or maybe he is just a really heavy or good drinker. jisung does not ever protest against customer's choices and he makes the drinks, pouring them over ice and serving the pair. 

"thanks, i'll pay you later, jisung."

"no worries, this is on me, seungmin." 

they walk out of the cocktail bar with seungmin leading them to the quieter part of the beach. the cocktail bar probably was not a good place to talk about your troubles with the noisy tourists. seungmin decides to find a place near the truck, with the headlights providing the two with light. seungmin can hear felix and chan wolf-whistling from above, because they can see the two and he wants to just smack them, but seungmin keeps his cool.

"you probably know my name already. but i'm seungmin anyways! kim seungmin, a lifeguard at this island. how about you?"

"uh, i'm hwang hyunjin. you can call me hyunjin or just jin if you want to. thanks for the drink anyways." 

"i'll call you hyunjin. that's fine, right? and you're welcome. the drink is a small matter, just drink your troubles away. are you feeling better now? perhaps you want to talk about it, if you don't mind sharing things like this with a literal stranger?" 

hyunjin giggles and seungmin finds it completely adorable. he watches hyunjin drink a big portion of his sazerac, with himself taking a sip out of his mai tai too. there is silence between two of them for a while after drinking, but hyunjin eventually speaks up about his problem.

"so.. my ex-boyfriend cheated on me at a party just weeks before summer vacation, which i was actually looking to spend it with him but i guess i ended up as a single dog. i came here in hopes of finding peace for a period of time and just to rest my heart, but he decided to call me weeks after his actions and explained that he was drunk, but i'm not going to let him disrupt my vacation or my life anymore. he can go suck that other guy's dick all he wants."

"is the last part the drunk talking? but your ex-boyfriend sure is a dick. the fact that he is calling for forgiveness and explaining after weeks is just ridiculous. don't worry! jeju island is amazing and you can find relaxation and peace here. also, there are plenty of fishes in the ocean. i'm sure you find someone better than him soon."

"if i were to go swim right now, would i find any?"

seungmin laughs and hyunjin giggles quietly, taking another sip of his alcohol. they talk about other stuff, with hyunjin trying to get yanjun off his mind and seungmin helping him. yanjun eventually does get off hyunjin's mind, all thanks to seungmin telling him jokes and stories about himself and the island. the dancer does not even keep track with the time, until seungmin says it is already pretty late and hyunjin should probably go back.

"it's 3AM already? i should go back before something happens to my cousin and his boyfriend. they're probably up to something at this point of time."

"let me walk you back. it isn't safe to be alone at this point of time. but, don't you feel like a thirdwheel? since your cousin and his boyfriend would probably eating each other's faces every single second. at least that's what my cousins do when we ever meet for a family dinner. always making out with their husbands or wives."

"jaemin is really sweet and he always has deep talks with me, so it feels like my cousin is the thirdwheeler instead. people always ask me these questions, but they actually know how to keep their hands to themselves and accompany me, so yeah.. anyways, thank you for the night. it was nice being able to talk to someone about it. talking to two high school students who are in love isn't a very good idea in my opinion." 

"you're welcome. i just hope that you'll feel better from all the stress you've been going through. if you don't mind, can we exchange numbers?"

hyunjin nods and whips out his phone, and seungmin copies him. they exchange numbers at the doorstep and hyunjin of course thanks seungmin once again, giving him a last wave and a small smile before disappearing into the chalet. the lifeguard then proceeds to walk back to the cocktail bar, where the three were chatting while having drinks. 

"how's that boy, min?"

"he's really nice. we talked about some stuff and i just sent him back to his chalet. got his number."

"damn, that's real fast. you've been single for quite some time, seungmin. maybe you should try going after him."

"maybe i will."

.

the first thing hyunjin sees when he steps into the chalet is jeno and jaemin eating ramen while playing their video game. hyunjin knew it. the two are always up to something when hyunjin is not in sight. jaemin says hi to him while still focusing on the video game. well, at least his favourite person among the two still acknowledges his presence unlike his good-for-nothing cousin who was shouting at the screen for no reason. 

"hyunjin hyung, i saw you talking to a guy outside the chalet just now. are you going to date him?"

"you know me well enough that you know i wouldn't date someone so quickly especially after getting cheated on, jaemin. he's really nice, sweet and different from other guys. a really good guy, you know? but my heart is still closed because of that bastard. maybe seungmin will be able to open it up again? we'll have to see. by the way, sleep earlier and don't make so much noise. also, no alcohol or not i'm sending both of you back to seoul straight away."

"got it hyung, have a good night's rest."

as hyunjin trudges up the stairs to his room, he recalls his words to jaemin. maybe seungmin will really open up his heart again.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
